132 lines
7.0 KiB
Plaintext
132 lines
7.0 KiB
Plaintext
June 1990
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RECORDS MANAGEMENT IN THE 1990s
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By
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Daniel L. Arkenau
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Lieutenant, Commander of the Records Unit
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Cincinnati, Ohio, Police Division
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By 1988, the backlog of police records processing at the
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Cincinnati, Ohio, Police Division reached the critical stage. As
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in many police departments, the Records Unit used logbooks and 3
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x 5 index cards to track accident reports. This process was slow
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and extremely labor intensive. With hundreds of new reports and
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retrieval requests coming in each day, the future of record
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keeping looked even bleaker. In fact, it often took 6 weeks or
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more to fill requests for copies of reports. At the same time,
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the personnel complement in the unit continued to decrease.
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To make the situation worse, the Records Unit was coming
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under increasing pressure from insurance companies, city council
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members, and from private citizens to provide this information on
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a timely basis. At one point, a member of the local claims
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association even came to the office and demanded better service.
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Faced with this crisis, the division began to examine
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alternative methods of managing files. Record-keeping personnel
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considered several microfilm-based, computer-assisted retrieval
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systems before selecting the optical disk image retrieval system.
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This system proved to be the solution to a critical problem.
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The division started using the optical disk system in March
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1989. With this system, police officers now can call the
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accident telephone line at the Records Unit and give the data
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entry operator the accident date, report number, names of
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drivers, locations, district of occurrence, and any injuries or
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fatalities. The data entry operator then enters this information
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into the optic system. This information provides a ready index
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of all basic information concerning the auto accident and can be
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retrieved, if needed, to provide a daily count of traffic
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problems in the city.
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When the original report arrives at the Records Unit, the
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data entry operator enters the report number from the original
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report. The automated, indexed information is then recalled from
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data memory and checked for proper spelling and street locations.
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The operator places the original report on the optic scanner
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which photographs the report. This image is transmitted to the
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optical disk for permanent storage. The entire process takes
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approximately 30 seconds. The original report can then be
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destroyed because the optic image can be used legally as the
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original.
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ADVANTAGES OF THE OPTICAL DISK IMAGE SYSTEM
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An optical disk image system offers several advantages in
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certain applications over other systems. With an optical image
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system, a laser beam is used to store electronic images on a
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specially treated metallic disk. Another laser then ``reads''
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these bits of stored information and converts them into
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electronic impulses that can be interpreted by a computer.
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Because lasers are extremely precise, far more data can be stored
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on an optical disk than on a floppy disk or on a roll of
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microfilm. One 12-inch optical disk, for example, holds 2.4
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gigabytes (2.4 million bytes) of information.
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An optical disk image system also offers instant recovery of
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all images on file and reduced storage space. And, it provides
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greater document security than microfilm because no film is sent
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to the lab for processing.
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BENEFITS
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According to the Technical Services Bureau Commander, ``The
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optical system's on-line retrieval capability has transformed the
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Records Unit into an efficient operation that truly serves the
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public.'' Today, all the information that insurance companies
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need to start processing a claim can be taken over the phone.
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When the original claim information arrives, it is scanned onto
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the optical disk. The image of the report can then be called up
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and printed in seconds.
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By using one or more of the 11 possible program descriptors,
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such as the driver's name and license number, the passenger's
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name, the time and location of the accident or the officer's
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badge number, any report or series of reports can be located and
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displayed in seconds. Each descriptor can also be modified to
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fit a particular application. For example, a range search
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function allows the operator to search reports on all accidents
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occurring within a specified range of dates, times, locations or
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other parameters.
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These broad search capabilities have made it possible for
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one person to accomplish, in a matter of minutes, retrievals that
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previously took three people hours to perform. The multiple
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search descriptors have also given the Records Unit greater
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flexibility and have made it easier to accommodate extraordinary
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cases, such as accidents involving utility poles or those
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involving numerous passengers.
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In addition, the system has had a phenomenal impact on
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productivity. After installing the optical system, the Records
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Unit was able to eliminate a backlog of 6,000 reports in
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approximately 4 weeks while keeping up with incoming reports and
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new requests. This would have been impossible with the old
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system. As a result, the number of complaints regarding
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turn-around time have decreased to zero.
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Integrating the system into the Records Unit's organization
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was relatively painless. It did not affect operations in any
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way. In fact, most of the police officers in the field were
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unaware that a new system was even installed. The system was
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effective almost immediately, and training personnel was
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accomplished with relative ease.
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CONCLUSION
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The improvements in the Records Unit have been felt
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throughout the police division. According to the Technical
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Services Bureau Commander, ``It's made officers in the field
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happy because they can come to the Records Unit and pick up a
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report immediately instead of having to wait around for an hour
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while the clerks try to find it.''
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Today, it is difficult, if not impossible, to find anyone
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who is not impressed with the way the Records Unit is now serving
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the department and the community. Because of this new optical
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disk image retrieval system, efficiency now characterizes the
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Records Unit.
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